Skip to main content

Namibia’s first female trawler captain

Slight, pretty, sharp-eyed, and quietly firm about things – Johanna Kwedhi is Namibia’s first female trawler captain. She is a living example of the empowerment of women in Namibia.

Johanna captains the Kanus, one of the largest trawlers operating from Luderitz Harbour, an old port rebuilt for today’s fishing boats. It’s her responsibility not only to navigate a coastline infamous for shipwrecks, but to bring in a profitable catch.

And this is an industry not used to women being, literally, at the helm.

Johanna’s story is part of the BBC’s new five-part Life on the Edge series, which looks at what is happening in terms of progress on the Millennium Development Goals in countries across Africa.

Read more blogs

Carbon Inequality Kills report

Carbon Inequality Kills report

Why curbing the excessive emissions of an elite few can create a sustainable planet for all The climate crisis is deeply connected to inequality. The world's richest are disproportionately responsible...

Read more
Safe Climate Equal Future Speakers Tour 

Safe Climate Equal Future Speakers Tour 

Three cities, eleven meetings with politicians, five impactful events, speeches at a national climate conference, and TV and radio national news interviews — all for a safe climate and equal...

Read more
Climate justice is about more than emissions reductions

Climate justice is about more than emissions reductions

In the past year alone, the world has seen deadly cyclones, huge locust swarms and unprecedented heatwaves and bushfires, all turbo-charged by climate change – it’s clear the climate crisis...

Read more